Whiptail sick?

Mickey · Post by **Mickey** » 29 Aug 2006, 03:25

My whiptail has stopped moving around lately, like it will move once or twice a day if I am lucky...
and he has gotten really fat yet he never eats what I have given him
I had thought that maybe he just waited for night
but I was moving stuff around and it didn't move at all.

You can barely tell it's alive unless you look at it for a few minutes and wait for eye movement or slight movement around the gills.

Am I just being overworried? Or is my whiptail sick.

Oh yeah: I have been doing the 25% water change once a week.
It's a ten gallon.
There is one pregnant guppy and one female beta in with it.

Deb · Post by **Deb** » 29 Aug 2006, 14:15

If this was my tank, Mickey, I'd let the guppy forage for itself for a while and only feed the Betta at the surface. This is so that you don't have to feed the tank, and no extra food sinks to the bottom. I think your whiptail is bloated, probably constipated, and he needs time to pass the blockage. My suggestion is to fast him for a day, and then feed a small piece of cooked - but not stewed - vegetable. One half of one fresh or frozen green pea would be good. A slice of cooked zucchini squash (courgette) is another choice.

If he is not sick, nothing is lost. If he is, the veggie might help, and the water changes, too.

Deborah

Mickey · Post by **Mickey** » 29 Aug 2006, 18:46

yeah, there were some problems in between that post and now
the female was being abusive to the pregnant guppy so I got the breeder out and put the female betta in there, she is suprisingly happy with that
the female guppy however, had roughly 24 babies last night
she is now in the 20 gal again

but yeah his zuchinni is removed and he doesn't eat it anyways
but I am nervous about doing the water changes with those tiny babies in there
any suggestions?

Deb · Post by **Deb** » 30 Aug 2006, 00:04

Well, Mickey, it's hard to make suggestions without knowing a lot more about your set-up but a few things come to mind.

Guppies and plecos may be a girl's best friend, but Bettas are the odd-man-out in South American set-ups. I'd take that Betta out of there. Bettas just cause trouble, IMO, in community tanks, and females can be just as bad as males! Bettas do like confined spaces, and I am not surprised that yours likes the breeder trap. I would not put her back in with the guppies, unless you want them to be eaten. I am sure that she was harrassing the whiptail, too. You just didn't see it.

I know you're doing the best with what you have got, but I would have said that a 10 gallon tank is too small for a Rineloricaria species catfish. Even though they are long and skinny, whiptails need the length and water volume of a larger tank. A 20 G long is a good size. It's hard to keep up water quality in 10 G, although you seem to be on target with water changes. Is your bottom material clean and aerated? Could your whiptail have eaten spoiled food?

My whiptail roots around on the sand a lot and chugs along like a jerky lawnmower, if you can envision that. He can be seen on the glass, too, but I don't know what he likes about it. Maybe he is grazing algae sometimes. All I know is, he doesn't sit around not eating. However, sometimes he justs rests under a branch and looks like he's hardly breathing. That's normal.

Remember that your whiptail is not a vegetarian. His regular diet should have been a mixture of things. I'm suggesting the vegetable now, because he seems lethargic and blocked up with something. Possibly he is just stuffed, and is taking a break. If he doesn't feel good, then you are doing some things to make him feel better, and I don't know what else you can do until you see another symptom.

So, to recap, here are my suggestions:
Remove the Betta.
Fast the whiptail one or two days.
Offer a cooked veggie as the next food.
Do the water changes. Fry need to have clean water, too, so I'm sure they'll be fine. Just be careful not to remove the babies with the bathwater!
If he hates the veggie, offer Omega One Kelp Flakes or something like that, instead.
Keep us posted on how he's doing.

Deborah

BTW, I'm not suggesting an Epsom Salts bath because I don't know how you'd do that with the baby guppies in there. It's kind of old-fashioned, but some aquarists give these baths to constipated fish. Since it's not clear what's wrong with your fish, I can't suggest this route.

Mickey · Post by **Mickey** » 30 Aug 2006, 04:12

I will keep you posted.
And umm... I have a female beta in the tank of my 20 gal and there are guppies and yeah they are all fine... I dunno that one isn't as agressive as my blue... so I am thinking of just moving her to her own tank someplace.
But yeah, the gravel isn't aerated,but I keep it clean.
And it never touched the zuchinni that I would give it.
And yeah when I first got the whiptail he would move around once it got dark. But then he found this one spot and refused to move.

Also, I had talked to the fish store keeper and she said that putting the whiptail in the 20 gal is a bad idea because the bristlenose would be moody and not let it have fun sitting someplace.

The only thing that my pleco will eat is the driftwood and I don't think it eats much of that so yeah it has pretty much been fasting for awhile.

Would the baby guppies be okay if I pour a bucket of water into a tank? I have noticed that no matter what I do, the waterdisturbs the fish more than the filter ever does.

Yeah he has moved around a little bit more so yeah,not much though.

Iporangensis Headach · Post by **Iporangensis Headach** » 04 Sep 2006, 03:30

I had a whiptail,
It never moved much! It would sit for hours but I used to feed and use my night shot camcorder to watch them, they are so active at night.

10Gal is far too small, I would say 20 Gal min, I am setting up a 600Gal when I get my new house as I only have a 40Gal at the moment.

The guppy will eat her fry if your not careful, I put my guppy fry in a fish net because they all swap out of the breeding trap as there that small.

I would swap the Beta for 6 Tetras, as maybe you could use the tetras as a dither fish so your whiptail could feel a bit safer (If it sees the Tetras have not scampered then there must be no threat around â?? Thatâ??s what they do when they want to breed some Cichlid)

If your water is disturbed when doing a water change then try putting your net in and poring the water into that. Then your fish wonâ??t be blown around the tank

Azz

Mickey · Post by **Mickey** » 04 Sep 2006, 06:41

thanks much
the female was long ago moved to a dif tank
and yeah I am looking for a new home for my whiptail, thanks much